Transport Documents in Carriage Of Goods by Sea (Maritime and Transport Law Library) by Časlav Pejović

Author:Časlav Pejović
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780367185992
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2020-03-04T22:00:00+00:00

7.3 Transfer of the bill of lading

One of the most important functions of the bill of lading is to enable its holder to dispose of the goods while they are not in his physical possession, but are in the custody of the carrier. In order to be able to perform this function, the bill of lading must be transferable.17

17 Section 524 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) provides that “the transfer of a bill of lading to the consignee identified therein shall have the same effects, in terms of the acquisition of rights to the goods, as does the delivery of the goods for carriage. The same shall apply to a transfer of the bill of lading to third parties”.

A bill of lading can be transferred from the moment it is signed by the carrier and delivered to the shipper. When the shipper and the consignee are one and the same person, the shipper can keep the bill of lading for himself in order to receive the goods.

A shipper is entitled to transfer the bill of lading to third parties when he wants to dispose of the goods, e.g. to sell them. In such a case, the shipper transfers the bill of lading to the buyer in exchange for payment of the purchase price. In practice, a bill of lading is often transferred several times before the goods are delivered to the consignee. Bills of lading usually retain the quality of transferability until the delivery of the goods to the consignee, i.e. to the last holder of the bill of lading. At the moment of delivery of the goods to the holder of the bill of lading, the bill of lading ceases to be a document of title.

The method of transferring bills of lading is determined by their form, i.e. whether they are issued to bearer, order or name.18 Each type of bill of lading can only be transferred by one method which is determined by its form at the moment when it was issued. For example, a bill of lading to bearer cannot be transferred by endorsement or assignment, but only by physical delivery. The method of transferring cannot be changed during the circulation of the bills of lading, except in the case of bills of lading to order issued with blank endorsement.

18 Section 5 of the COGSA 1992, Section 7–501 of the UCC, Section 519 of the German Commercial Code.

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